


Nightmare

by Colamiilk



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Fights, Giriko's really reallyyyyyy bad at expressing feelings, Hurt/Comfort, I was having a hard time figuring out how to solve their problems, If you like Giriko being a sad pathetic piece of shit, Justin gets fed up, M/M, This Is For You, This took me far too long for how short it is, This was supposed to have a sad ending but someone saved all your asses, he needs help, power dynamic references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colamiilk/pseuds/Colamiilk
Summary: “Wha- what's going on Giriko, I’m trying to sleep?” Justin’s voice sounded as sleepy and confused as it possibly could, desperate to find an answer as soon as possible so he could be free from this.
Relationships: Giriko/Justin Law
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> At this point every time I post feels like a walk of shame... like yeah... I'm still doing nothing but writing... listen, being on break from classes while in quarantine/recommended quarantine is... like idk what else to do.

Justin was barely awake. He had been trying to fall asleep for hours with no luck and was just taking what he could get by drifting off, his mind hazing into a fog where he could feel his hands resting above him and the slackness of his tired jaw, but couldn’t really feel or think about much more than that. It wasn’t the most desirable rest, but considering the hours and hours he had spent just laying face down he was happy for it. 

And then Giriko came in and face planted into his chest.

It was such a surprise that Justin sort of jolted awake with a weird noise, his body trying to find the threat before realizing it was just Giriko and relaxing with a strained annoyance. He was so tired that he just sort of ignored the weirdness of the situation and tried to roll over, to go back to sleep and not deal with this. Giriko didn’t let him. It was weird to feel Giriko as sort of an oversized blanket pinning him down, the man was a bit taller than him so having his head on his chest meant Justin’s legs were entirely covered and crushed by Giriko’s body. It wasn’t even close to a pleasant experience.

Groaning in annoyance he tried to roll over again for Giriko’s hands to close painfully tight around his rib cage, saying without words he was not going to let him get away from this. It was so out of character and weird that Justin finally, reluctantly woke up enough to question it.

“Wha- what's going on Giriko, I’m trying to sleep?” Justin’s voice sounded as sleepy and confused as it possibly could, desperate to find an answer as soon as possible so he could be free from this. Giriko didn’t really provide much of an answer, instead he pulled Justin’s body down, ignoring the concerned noise of surprise he got, and bundled Justin up entirely under himself, as if he was a fucking dragon ontop of his hoard. 

Something had certainly happened that led to this, Justin just wasn’t sure he had the energy to find out right now. Mumbling and huffing in his small amount of space under Giriko he tried to find a more comfortable position, not bothering to push Giriko off but also wanting to be able to fall asleep. As he finally found some kind of divot Giriko accommodated and wrapped around him for he sighed and let himself relax again. 

“You know you're going to have to explain this later right?” Giriko’s grip only seemed to grow stronger with that, squeezing Justin tighter and tighter, making sure he couldn’t move… or rather… it seemed more like so no one could touch him. Justin’s mouth went a bit sour as he started to put it together, Giriko must’ve had a nightmare again. He  _ had  _ been mostly passed out on the couch when Justin originally got home… The enchanter had never explained his nightmares but Justin had sort of gotten a drift based on how he acted after them. 

Wiggling again, ignoring Giriko’s annoyed noise that tried to make him sit still he got his face out around Giriko’s shoulder, taking a second to breathe in sweet fresh air, and then turned to kiss the enchanter’s cheek. From the pained sound that came out of Giriko, he was right, it had been a nightmare. Kissing Giriko a few more times, getting strained little noises in response with each one he held the other close, reminding the man he was here. 

Justin never really knew  _ exactly _ what Giriko’s nightmares entailed, what memories he was reliving, what fears were haunting him, and honestly he didn’t really feel any burning need to know. He had his own fair share of secrets, hidden pasts and pained memories he wanted to keep to himself. All he really cared about was getting Giriko back to normal, wiping away that uncharacteristic fear and desperation with soft touches and warm kisses. 

Meeting their lips Justin frowned at the taste of blood that mixed in between their mouths instantly, far too sharp teeth catching lips consistently in nerves, a shaking body, panic that couldn’t be hidden no matter how much it wanted to be. Justin had never been a sociable person, most of his deep heart to heart interactions with people involved telling them what to do, sharp scolding hidden under a ‘worried’ tone. 

Being a Death Scythe known for executions, justified murders, no one ever argued. No one came to him for comfort, he didn’t have the patience, he didn’t have the empathy, didn’t even care enough to do anything but space out. Sometimes he listened out of boredom but usually he was far too invested in his work to even do that. No one but Tezca even bothered trying, and Tezca was really just looking for a body to talk to, a place to vent without worrying about any negative feedback, because Justin certainly wouldn’t give him any kind of feedback at all. 

Giriko was the only person he cared enough about to actually go through the effort to try, and even then it was selfish, not out of the good of his heart and mostly because he loved to see that he had the capability of making someone feel something other than fear… plus he just didn’t like seeing Giriko so weak. It felt wrong and painful and always left him wanting to pathetically snuggle up to the enchanter’s defeated body and feel it hold onto him and tell him Giriko was still there. It  _ was  _ selfish, he knew it was, but he also wasn’t sure if he was even capable of caring for someone more than he did for Giriko.

Luckily he hadn’t seen Giriko that bad in a long time and right now wasn’t anywhere near there… Still, Giriko was obviously upset and that couldn’t just be ignored because it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. 

Rolling them over Justin moved up so he was sitting on top of Giriko, looking down at him with a warmth so unfamiliar on his face, taking in the other’s pained expression with a thin smile. The exhaustion that bogged down his soul just moments ago was now nothing more than just a slight pain around his eyes, his madness happy to finally get what it wanted and have him give up on the idea of sleep.

“Do you want to talk about what’s gotten you so upset?” Justin already knew what the answer to his question would be, but he wanted to hear it anyway, he wanted to see that disgusted expression that was already starting to peel across Giriko’s face.

“No fucking way.” Laughing under his breath Justin gave an amused hum and leaned back, looking over Giriko with sharp eyes that gave no sympathy or pity, that looked nothing but entertained. It was cruel, but it also worked. Pissing Giriko off enough to forget whatever was worrying him so much. However, if the man didn’t want to talk about it, what else was there to do other than change the mood? He should know by now Justin wasn’t one to coddle, and Giriko probably would absolutely hate being treated as fragile anyway. 

“Well? Then what are you looking for? I’m up now so tell me what you want.” Giriko gave a low annoyed growl, telling Justin to shut up before he got actually angry here. It was a silly threat, especially because  _ he  _ was the one to come wake Justin up for comfort, but the scythe humored it, leaning down to meet their lips again. Becoming obediently quiet for the cranky old man. Giriko didn’t seem to be in the mood for it and only lazily kissed back, humoring Justin but not really committed to it.

“What's wrong with you? You came to me so why are you being like this?” Justin’s voice was somewhere in between whiny and incredibly concerned. He wasn’t sure if he had ever felt Giriko kiss him like that, the man was usually just as passionate as he was or entertained by it and trying to keep up… he never seemed to just be trying to please Justin enough to be left alone… It hurt. It hurt to have his affection be treated like something that just had to be taken care of, like he was a job instead of someone Giriko loved. 

“Giri?” The soft pet name didn’t seem to get through to Giriko at all and Justin’s heart fell entirely to hell. It hadn’t seemed like Giriko was that bad, Justin had thought he was just upset and cranky, not straight up despondent. He had answered Justin at first, saying he didn’t want to talk about it, and gave some normal grumbley huffs of annoyance… what had happened to change that? What made Giriko feel as if Justin's concern wasn’t worth the effort anymore? That he couldn’t even be bothered with reacting to Justin trying to help, even if he was doing a bad job of it?

Kissing the other again, this time with straining red eyes that he  _ refused  _ to let burst into tears he looked for some kind of reciprocation, for Giriko to at least feel how much he cared. When he got pushed away this time… Justin didn’t even know what to do. His soul burnt, throbbed and stung. He… He had been refused? The pain was something Justin had never felt before… but it only got worse with Giriko’s next words.

“You aren’t Arachne…” Justin didn’t even know what to say… he had no idea how to react. Was he supposed to leave? This was his apartment… Was he supposed to get mad? He wasn’t really all that mad, he was too shocked Giriko had said that to be mad. Justin knew how much Arachne meant to Giriko, that he had spent 800 years in love with the witch… Getting off of Giriko’s lap Justin moved to sit on the side of the bed, not even facing Giriko, curling up to stare at the wall blankly. 

They sat like that for what felt like an eternity. It almost felt like neither of them were breathing. Justin had always known Giriko was over 800, that he had been alive for longer than Justin could even comprehend. How many lives had Giriko been ‘in love’? Was Justin just another soul used to pass the endless time? He wasn’t even close to old enough to understand the concept of loving more than one person, he heard of people getting remarried after a spouse died but he didn’t really understand it… he didn’t want to understand it. He didn’t want to be someone Giriko had settled for because he couldn’t be with Arachne.

Looking back at Giriko Justin’s mouth felt sour seeing the man lying there completely listless, limp and defeated. Normally that would entice something in Justin, a desire to make him feel better… right now that feeling didn’t exist in him. It didn’t matter if it did or not though, Giriko hadn’t wanted him. Why did he even come in here? Did he think Justin would make it better and when he hadn’t he just completely fell apart? 

He had to get up, just sitting here was pointless. It took him a while of just thinking that before he could stand up, his legs felt kind of weak… Giriko didn’t react at all, when Justin looked over he saw that Giriko hadn’t moved so much as a muscle. The man wasn’t going to stop him, Justin supposed that only made sense though. Giriko didn’t seem like the type to care about that kind of thing… only wanting to drown himself in misery. Sniffing in distaste Justin grabbed his coats.

How ridiculous Giriko was waking him up for that. 

Justin didn’t have much to do outside, it was the middle of the night actually so it wasn’t like there was really much open anyway. He felt like a fool just leaving, something told him the proper reaction was actually kicking Giriko out, because again, this was his house. But really he wasn’t in the mood right now to yell or literally pick up Giriko’s absurdly heavy body and throw his limp corpse out. He was too tired for that… there was certainly something he could do in the academy anyway. He also could just sleep in the infirmary if he wanted. If Giriko decided at some point he wanted to follow he would never enter the academy on his own, so it would be a good place to go to get away from him.

Why did he want to get away? Why did he care so much about this? Really he should’ve been expecting like this… he was just a stupid brat to Giriko. Slamming open their, no,  _ his  _ door he flinched at how the cold air stung at the skin of his face. He hated this, he was so annoyed he couldn’t even begin to deal with the fact that he couldn’t actually just leave here. They were stuck together, Justin had accepted taking care of the enchanter, to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. He didn’t really want to do that anymore. Still he wasn’t cruel enough to go through with the fact he would have to execute Giriko if he gave up… 

There weren't many people outside, but they were still in the middle of a city, an old man throwing out his garbage looked over to him with a concerned face, sensing how upset he was. Justin brushed it off, he couldn’t bring himself to care, he was allowed to be upset sometimes. Everyone in this city expected far too much of him, they relied far too much on a dumb kid who didn’t understand anything or see the obvious coming. 

He made it about halfway to the academy before he felt someone yank his shoulder back, he knew who it was before he even turned around, there was only one person brave enough to touch him like that. Glaring something awful into the enchanter’s eyes he watched the man flinch back without a hint of guilt. What the hell did Giriko want? Hadn’t he done enough here? It wasn’t even like Justin could leave him so why the hell was he so worried? Why did he look almost scared? Did he think Justin was going to kill him? Did he think that little of the scythe? That he’d be so petty?

Shrugging Giriko’s hand off his shoulder he moved to turn around and be on his way again, Giriko didn’t let that happen, he grabbed onto Justin’s face and met their lips. There was something desperate about the way Giriko was kissing him, filled with regret, Justin didn’t care, he stepped on Giriko’s foot with his heel, digging it in with all his anger. Giriko didn’t let go, he didn’t even react to the pain. Starting to struggle Justin made a noise of distaste when Giriko moved his arms down to wrap around Justin and keep him still, his neck tucked over the scythe’s shoulder.

“Giriko get off of me.” Of course, the enchanter didn’t listen. Justin wasn’t expecting him to anyway. Giving a loud huff Justin wiggled in a half hearted attempt to get out of Giriko’s grasp. For whatever reason Giriko wasn’t saying anything, probably so pathetically unused to trying to fix things that he didn’t know what to say. Pushing around some more Justin grunted when Giriko’s grip got suffocating. He wasn’t interested in being stuck here for however long it took for Giriko to get this out of his system, it wasn’t his job to do that, his only responsibility was to make sure Giriko didn’t kill anyone, and the enchanter was far too deep in self loathing right now to be a danger to anyone. 

“I  _ know  _ being miserable isn’t anything new to you Giriko, you’re an old man that can deal with it on their own.” It was a mean thing to say, but it still wasn’t anywhere near being told that you weren’t as good as some dead witch. Trying to break away again he groaned in annoyance when Giriko started curling up, bending Justin back to get more of their skin to touch. He hated this, he was sick of Giriko’s shit. Looking over to the other side of the road, so he wouldn’t have see Giriko’s honey brown hair in his face, he frowned noticing that there were a few people staring at them.

“We’re being watched, do you really want people to see you being so pathetic?” Again Giriko didn’t respond, still being horrible. He really didn’t know how long Giriko was going to keep this up, contrary to popular belief he could have amazing patience if he really really wanted it, he could definitely outlast Justin in standing here. The question at this point was really if Justin was willing to get violent to get away here. Giving a hum of consideration he moved to rest the heel of his palm right under Giriko’s chest, the solar plexus, the part of the body that if you hit hard enough would leave the other person gasping in pain. Giriko was smart enough to know that was what Justin was threatening. 

“Justin please… you… you're all I have left.” Scoffing, Justin broke away, this time Giriko letting go of him when he raised his arms up to push the man’s arms off. 

“I don’t care, I’m not interested in being with you just because I’m all you can get.” Giriko went painfully silent there, like he had never considered he had been doing that until now. It wasn’t common to see Giriko so silent, so desperate. The people watching them had left, probably scurrying away knowing it was dangerous watching a lover’s quarrel that involved a Death Scythe and a criminal. Justin couldn’t  _ wait  _ to see how this would affect his already weird reputation. 

“You don’t actually think that's why I’m here… do you?” Giriko said it as if Justin was missing something huge here, ignoring something that was extremely important… he wasn’t sure what it was. Luckily Giriko didn’t waste any time explaining.

“I’m in fucking Death City, risking my life because who knows if the academy is going to keep listening to you and not just kill me like they want to? Do you think I’d do that just for shits and giggles?” Justin felt his face turn the slightest bit red and he looked away with a childish pout, upset at how good of a point Giriko had made there. Still he wasn’t completely satisfied, the hurt in his heart wasn’t completely healed… 

“Why do you want me to be Arachne then…” Nervous fingers tangled up in his cross as he said it, hands clasping up in prayer before twitching into other positions in an endless fidgety cycle. If Giriko noticed it, which he probably did, he mercifully didn’t say anything or try to stop it. When Justin glanced up though he saw how uncomfortable Giriko looked, how little he wanted to address his earlier words. 

“I don’t want that… I…” Giriko trailed off, his face turning the slightest bit red as he looked away himself this time. 

“I just… don’t know how I got here… how I started following someone other than her…” They both went quiet after that, Justin didn’t really have a response and something told him that was something that he wasn’t supposed to respond to anyway. Instead he snuck a shy hand over to grab the bottom of Giriko’s shirt, tugging it down, a silent request to be held. 

Giriko held on like the world would end if he didn’t. 

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this as a gift for everyone who likes seeing Giriko down on his luck and being comforted... but he has an uncanny ability to make everything worse for himself and completely ruin my plans. Maybe I'll try again some other time, but for this fic I hope you enjoyed their giant mess!


End file.
